Treasure

Just as expected, the corridors and stairs leading to the upper floors were covered with more than a dozen traps of varying sizes.

Over half of them were sharp spikes that suddenly appeared out of thin air, while the rest were energy-based attacks.

The former were all blocked by sturdy dragon scales and failed to pose even the slightest threat.

As for the latter, they were absorbed by her enormous wings.

Simply put, Vermes had endured all the trap damage with her powerful, magic-resistant body.

Fortunately, for an adult dragon, these injuries could only be considered minor. They were still far from serious enough to threaten her life.

Besides, Zuo Si had long been fully aware of the emotions the red dragon had experienced during the battle.

In fact, ever since he had established a stable telepathic connection with his awakened creation, even the slightest thought of harming him would be transmitted to him with perfect clarity.

He simply had no intention of exposing it before she put those thoughts into action.

After all, anyone who suddenly became a slave controlled by someone else would inevitably develop a strong sense of resistance.

Much less a red dragon who thought highly of herself and did not regard other creatures as worthy of notice.

And so, one man and one dragon squeezed through the doorway and successfully reached the upper levels of the Mage Tower.

After glancing around at the rather plain furnishings, Vermes immediately asked, "Which way should we go next?"

"Don't worry! Now that we're up here, why don't we search the rooms on the left first? That's where Astar stored valuable items. If nothing unexpected happened, there should be plenty of books, notes, gemstones, Magic Items, and scrolls containing precious knowledge."

Compared with ordinary apprentices who might never have had the chance to come up here in their entire lives, Zuo Si was extremely familiar with this place.

Because he came here three to five times almost every month.

Sometimes, it was to activate the Teleportation Gate leading to the Forgotten Realms;

Sometimes, it was to help the Archlich—Astar—create certain things;

And sometimes, it was to study books from another world with him, Magic Items and scrolls he had never seen before, or knowledge pried from the mouths and minds of captives.

In short, in the eyes of the other apprentices, Zuo Si was the most favored and trusted student in the entire tower, without question.

"You mean... there are valuable treasures here?" The red dragon's eyes instantly lit up.

At that moment, her greed and desire for wealth overcame everything else.

"Treasure? If you mean precious-metal currency like gold and silver, it should all be in the room where the Teleportation Gate is located, used as bait to attract greedy people or other creatures like you. I don't think anyone could carry away such a massive pile of heavy stuff without a large spatial container."

With that, Zuo Si climbed down from the dragon's back, used a Creature Card to summon a Human Warrior armed with a shortsword and shield, and ordered him to push open the door on the left.

He did this mainly to guard against mechanisms or traps on the door.

Although he did not think Astar would waste time and effort placing traps in his private quarters that were incredibly troublesome to both activate and deactivate.

Still, there was never anything wrong with being cautious.

Just one second later, the facts proved that this caution had been an exceptionally wise decision.

The moment the Human Warrior's hand touched the doorknob, a red flash suddenly flickered.

As though he had seen some terrifying vision, he immediately panicked and began running around uncontrollably, screaming in terror and despair.

There was no doubt that the summoned Human Warrior had been attacked by mind-affecting magic.

It might have been Fear, or perhaps Emotion Control.

Fortunately, the effects of such magic usually did not last very long.

Before long, he returned to normal.

Zuo Si believed that the trap on the door was likely intended only to sound an alarm and summon the Iron Golems and Flesh Golems that had already been destroyed to deal with the Invaders.

Otherwise, it could have been replaced with a Negative Energy Ray, or even more terrifying Instant Death Magic.

Unfortunately, those loyal guards were no longer around.

Upon entering the cluttered room, which was less than twenty square meters in size, the first thing he noticed was several cloth bags the size of cookie tins piled on a table.

After opening them, he found uncut raw gemstones of various colors sorted inside by category.

Some of the diamonds frequently used for spellcasting and crafting Magic Items had even been ground into powder and separately packaged for convenience.

"These gemstones are worth at least sixty-four thousand three hundred and fifty-one Dante gold coins! And seven Talan silver coins!"

As expected of a natural treasure collector and appraisal master, the red dragon was exceptionally skilled.

Vermes gave an estimate with an error so small it could practically be ignored after just one glance.

Both Dante and Talan were legal currencies minted by Amn, the nation with the most prosperous commercial activity on the Faerun Continent.

Dante were gold coins, while Talan were silver coins.

These two currencies were also the most stable in value, accepted in the most regions, and most widely circulated among the many precious-metal currencies of the Forgotten Realms.

"Not bad! It looks like I won't have to worry about running out of gemstones for quite a while." Zuo Si stuffed the gemstone-filled cloth bags into his satchel one by one with satisfaction.

Although this slightly worn leather satchel did not look very large, it was actually a Magic Item that could hold far more than its own volume.

And the person carrying it could barely feel any weight.

Unfortunately, its capacity was quite limited, roughly equivalent to a large storage cabinet.

If he was not careful, it could easily be filled to the brim.

Just as Zuo Si shifted his attention elsewhere, Vermes immediately sidled over and said greedily, "I think I have the right to demand a share of those gemstones."

"No. These gemstones were carefully selected as high-quality spellcasting materials. Giving them to someone like you, who would only collect them in your lair and let them gather dust, would be a complete waste. Only in my hands can they be used to their fullest extent."

After saying that, Zuo Si ignored the red dragon's face, twisted by jealousy and anger, and ordered the Human Warrior to take the thick books and notes from the bookshelf, open them, and hand them to him.

He did this mainly to prevent them from carrying strange magic, or from being dangerous objects created by evil magical creatures.

He had personally seen an apprentice gradually lose control of his mind after reading a book made from human skin and filled with all kinds of cruel, evil sacrificial rituals, eventually descending into mindless madness.

In the world of magic, acquiring knowledge was never a safe endeavor.

The knowledge capable of granting the greatest power often also meant bearing enormous risks beyond the imagination of ordinary people.

Fortunately, the books and notes on the shelves in this room were fairly normal.

With time running short, he could not afford to identify them one by one, so he simply stuffed them all into his satchel and took them away.

In the storage room on the upper floor, aside from the gemstones and more than twenty books and notes unavailable in the mid-level public library,

Zuo Si found a total of two wands, one containing thirty charges of Scare and the other forty-three charges of Animate Dead;

One high-level Animate Dead scroll;

Two Charm Person scrolls;

One Protection from Arrows scroll;

One Invisibility scroll;

One unfinished, semi-finished Spell Storing Ring;

One Black Robe Enchanted with numerous protective spells, which he could not wear yet because of his age and height;

And a small assortment of miscellaneous potions.

To outsiders, this might already have seemed like an exceedingly rich haul.

But he knew perfectly well that compared with the Archlich's true assets, these things did not even amount to scraps from a meal.

It's obvious that the truly important and valuable things had long since been hidden away.

They might even have been packed up and taken away by the missing Astar.

If he had enough time, Zuo Si would certainly have found a way to search the tower thoroughly from top to bottom.

But unfortunately, the Undead Creatures outside, which had battered the Mage Tower's defenses to the brink of collapse, could surge inside like a tide at any moment.